v0x104 - History feature updates

[Earl Bonovich]

0x104 : Release Notes (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=72035)
0x104 : Main Discussion Thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=72036)
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Since the release of the R15, there has been a lot of discussion on the "usefullness" of the History feature in the DVR+ series.

Well, DirecTV has taken noticed. And they are adding more information to the History items. These release features the first of many updates to come, as they will continue to work on enhancing the history features in future release.

Screen Image of Updated History (http://hr20.dbstalk.com/images/103/history_01.jpg)

Notice at the bottom of that screen image:
"This episode was deleted by the viewer. (1001)"

These types of messages will start to appear going forward on history items.
These messages will go a long way in helping both the user and DirecTV figure out what is going on with some of the recordings.

Before you ask, no... I don't have an entire list of messages or "codes".

[Xaa]

Man I'm glad for these improvements. I was thinking that this was an area where I was way more satisfied with TiVo. This should really alleviate that.

[Bad Rex]

Drat, my signature will soon be obsolete! ;)

[Doug Brott]

Earl,

Was your screen shot from the History section of the menus and then selecting an item (Heroes) from the History list?

[Earl Bonovich]

Earl,

Was your screen shot from the History section of the menus and then selecting an item (Heroes) from the History list?

Yes... it was listed in History as "deleted"
Then when selecting it, you get the screen noted in the screen shot

[jkc120]

This is awesome, thanks D*! This will not only help all of us with weird partial or deleted bugs, but it should help the D* software team debug if there is a common reason noted for these partial or deleted shows.

I wonder what happens if it's a reason D* hasn't programmed? I guess we'll find out!

[btmoore]

History features will no longer include future canceled items, when caused by a reboot
History feature will now contain updated information on "why" things occured


I look forward to these changes. Good to see that they figured out that the idea of the "future history of canceled programs" was a bit confusing.

[btmoore]

This is awesome, thanks D*! This will not only help all of us with weird partial or deleted bugs, but it should help the D* software team debug if there is a common reason noted for these partial or deleted shows.

I wonder what happens if it's a reason D* hasn't programmed? I guess we'll find out!


Did anyone see the Partial bug under the last release? I know I didn't have that bug this last version and I don't recall seeing posts about it. I think they may of fixed that bug.

[jkc120]

Did anyone see the Partial bug under the last release? I know I didn't have that bug this last version and I don't recall seeing posts about it. I think they may of fixed that bug.

Yeah, good point. I actually haven't had the partial bug since prior to 0xEB. The only issues I've had since 0xEB are occasional lockups, which actually started with 0xFA. But I've only had 2-3 of them, which is an improvement. And they all happened when I selected "Yes, delete" after watching a show.

[btmoore]

Yeah, good point. I actually haven't had the partial bug since prior to 0xEB. The only issues I've had since 0xEB are occasional lockups, which actually started with 0xFA. But I've only had 2-3 of them, which is an improvement. And they all happened when I selected "Yes, delete" after watching a show.

Sounds like we had similar experiences, 3 lockups, 2 unplayable bugs that I was able to get around and one unwatchable bug under the last release. While still not good it was better than the last release with the exception of the lockups.

[islesfan]

Did anyone see the Partial bug under the last release? I know I didn't have that bug this last version and I don't recall seeing posts about it. I think they may of fixed that bug.

Just had a unwatchable this morning. The show was still live, near the end, but the recorded version wouldn't play, and trick play didn't work in the live version. (It happened to be Mr. Rodgers, so now my son hates the HR20 too, its unanimous!)

[btmoore]

Just had a unwatchable this morning. The show was still live, near the end, but the recorded version wouldn't play, and trick play didn't work in the live version. (It happened to be Mr. Rodgers, so now my son hates the HR20 too, its unanimous!)

I too had 1 unwatchable bug under 0xFA but I think they may of fixed the Partial bug. I don't recall any reports for a few weeks on that one.

[islesfan]

I look forward to these changes. Good to see that they figured out that the idea of the "future history of canceled programs" was a bit confusing.

It may seem confusing, but the future history is very useful. I check the history daily for all the programs the HR20 has decided to not bother recording, and I can just re-set the recording right from the history. Now, if it would just act like a DVR and automatically record things it was programmed to record, then the history would be useless (I never looked at history on my TiVo), but until the DVR features are enabled, I need the future history function.

[btmoore]

It may seem confusing, but the future history is very useful. I check the history daily for all the programs the HR20 has decided to not bother recording, and I can just re-set the recording right from the history. Now, if it would just act like a DVR and automatically record things it was programmed to record, then the history would be useless (I never looked at history on my TiVo), but until the DVR features are enabled, I need the future history function.

The problem with it was it would show that a future recording was canceled when in actuality it will be recorded. It only showed up in the future history as canceled because when it rebooted guide did not have the data so it created a future canceled history message, but when the guide finaly gets the right data for the scheduler it will add the program to the to do list but not update the history. IMO that is very confusing.

[jkc120]

The problem with it was it would show that a future recording was canceled when in actuality it will be recorded. It only showed up in the future history as canceled because when it rebooted guide did not have the data so it created a future canceled history message, but when the guide finaly gets the right data for the scheduler it will add the program to the to do list but not update the history. IMO that is very confusing.

Agreed, I think they should change these sorts of "cancelled" recordings to a different label, maybe something like "rescheduled".

[btmoore]

Agreed, I think they should change these sorts of "cancelled" recordings to a different label, maybe something like "rescheduled".

I am interested to see what changes they made in this version.

[jkc120]

I am interested to see what changes they made in this version.

I'll have to wait to test it out here as well, didn't get the update last night. So looks like early next week. :)

[Calebrot]

Now that they are getting this far with the history, a nice addition would be the ability to undelete a program that is still intact on the unit, like sometimes I get dash-dash crazy in the playlist and actually delete a program I wanted to see, as long as the unit hasn't recorded something else over it, it would be nice to be able to get it back.

[jkc120]

I am interested to see what changes they made in this version.

Ok, so after a fresh reboot I went into the history. The first thing I noticed was an entry listed as "Won't Record". I clicked into it, but there is no "reason". I am guessing it is a repeat and that's why it's not going to record it.

Next, I saw a show still listed as "cancelled", which I know it will record since it's a first run (Jeopardy). The reason listed for this is "This episode was partially recorded because it became unavailable. (13)". Um, how did it partially record something that's schedule to record on 12/18? :lol:

I then went to the Smallville episode in the history that shows up as "deleted". Ironically, this was the show I watched then deleted, which locked my HR20 up. I rebooted and figured I'd try to force a download. Anyway, the reason shown is "this showing is over." (Funny, I would have expected "deleted by user"). :confused:

For a recorded show that I've not watched or deleted yet shows up with extra info, "This episode was recorded at 8:00p, Today. All first run episodes are set to record." Cool. The "Record series" on the left when going into a history entry is nice, too.

I went to an entry for a show that recorded in two chunks from yesterday (due to a lockup then as well), and it shows up as "partial". However, the extra info/reason only says "This episde was recorded at 9:41p, Wed 12/6. All first run episodes are set to record." I was expecting a reason for why it was partial (though in this case it IS a partial recording and not a partial bug so maybe the info is accurate/proper).

[gr8reb8]

Agreed, I think they should change these sorts of "cancelled" recordings to a different label, maybe something like "rescheduled".

Or, "Unknown, (since my designers did not let me store the guide on the harddisk)" :lol:

[ptighe]

I'll have to wait to test it out here as well, didn't get the update last night. So looks like early next week. :)

So you did get the update? I'm curious to see these new messages, maybe it will help us understand what's going on.

[mtnagel]

So I was looking at my To Do list today and it has 20/20 scheduled for tonight at 9. But on the bottom, it says, "This episode was partially recorded because it became unavailable. (13)"

So when did the HR20 become psychic? Let me reiterate, it says this on a show that hasn't started yet, but somehow it knows it will partially record it?

I should say that I've never had a partial in over 2 months with this thing, so I am 99% confident it will record as it's supposed to, but I just think the wording is weird.

[mtnagel]

So I was looking at my To Do list today and it has 20/20 scheduled for tonight at 9. But on the bottom, it says, "This episode was partially recorded because it became unavailable. (13)"

So when did the HR20 become psychic? Let me reiterate, it says this on a show that hasn't started yet, but somehow it knows it will partially record it?

I should say that I've never had a partial in over 2 months with this thing, so I am 99% confident it will record as it's supposed to, but I just think the wording is weird.And it did record both successfully. Any idea why it would say what it said before it even recorded it?

[mtnagel]

So I guess no one cares about this?

I have another issue with the History information. Here's the whole story I posted in the issue thread.

Last night was playing the Nintendo DS while the tv was on. It was scheduled to record Seinfeld rerun on the local Fox channel at 7:30 and Sweet Home Alabama at 8 pm. At about 9:50, it was on Grey's Anatomy (so there were no conflicts for the things to record) and I noticed the audio sync was off, so I was going to change the channel and change it back to see if that cleared it up. So I pressed the channel up and it seemed to hang. I was able to press the list, but the two things weren't recorded/recording. I went to the To Do list and it still listed Seinfeld (even though the time had passed and it should have dropped from the list) and Sweet Home didn't have the R symbol. The unit was very slow and seemed unresponsive. Eventually I could get to the reset menu in the software so I did a reset. After it came back up, Sweet Home started recording (obviously didn't need the last couple minutes so I deleted that in the list) and Seinfeld wasn't in the list.

Looking at the history, Sweet Home shows as deleted and Seinfeld shows as "partial". When selecting it, all it says is, "This showing is over." WTF? What happened to the detailed history?